Heartstrings
by Ayumizetsu-lover
Summary: A girl whoes afraid of puppets, little does she know she's in love with her worst nightmare. Dive deep into a murder mystery/love story.
1. Chapter 1

Author-Ayumizetsu-lover(and some by little bro)

**Disclaimer**- I do not own Naruto… or Sasori. I do own Anira and Forrest.

-I think I've said all I need to. My brother(15 yrs. Old) is the voice of Forrest's personality, so anything Forrest says is not written by me. 3-enjoy!!

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**HEARTSTRINGS**

**CHAPTER 1****  
**

A scream cut through the chilled night air. Anira shot up in her bed, panting. It took her a few seconds before she realized the scream had came from her.

-10minuteslater-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anira sat in her parents stark kitchen, shuddering. She hadn't expected anyone else in the house to awaken to her sudden outburst, she had been waking from her continuous nightmares like this since she was ten years old. And seven years later, the horrible memory-induced visions still gave her chills.

She brought her stale cup of re-microwaved coffee to her quavering lips, and sipped. Her nerves began to relax as the steam from the brown liquid spiraled into her nose.

Anira glanced at the small clock fixed into her mom's trusty old stove. '_three in the morning… that's the most sleep I've gotten in two months! _' She realized. Surprisingly, the thought came to her as a near accomplishment; she was getting tougher.

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After a while, Anira glanced at the clock again and sighed. It was time to get the rest of the family up and out of bed, something she really didn't enjoy.

Having a little brother who had only been two when her dad had died, he didn't suffer from the same horrific nightmares she did.

Anira wandered grudgingly into her little brothers room, hopefully, God had decided Forrest would actually enjoy school that day, but Anira was not that lucky.

"Hey, Forrest, it's time to get your butt out of bed dude." Anira murmured semi-sweetly, shaking him gently.

Yeah, like shaking the nine yr. old had worked the last four weeks.

"NOOOoooooooo…go die." the lump moaned from under his comforter.

Anira groaned and ripped the warm blanket off the black haired boy. Forrest had insisted on dying his hair that color after glimpsing a group of goth teens on his way home from school.

"Get up!" she growled menacingly, maybe this time he'd actually respond…

Forrest rolled over to face her and gave her an impish grin. "You know, if you did die, it would make this world soooo much easier to live in." he snickered.

"Uhg! You brat!" Anira shouted. Before the boy had time to react, she'd yanked his pillow out from under his head and slammed it in his face. "Do you know how easy it would be if YOU weren't in MY life?!!"

From underneath his pillow, Forrest snickered. "Nope! No clue." then he flung his pillow in her general direction.

Anira dodged easily, then spun around and left the room. "You're awake, that's all I needed to know. If you miss school today, you're _moms_ problem, not mine!" She roared from the top of the stairs.

Anira left her little brother to get himself dressed. Every sunrise, since their moms new job, it had been her duty to wake Forrest up in the morning, and they went through that same routine, more or less so, every weekday.

On her way back towards the kitchen, she paused by her mother's room and peered in. Although her father had been dead for seven years, she still slept in a king sized bed.

"Mom?" She whispered tentatively. her mom wasn't as deep of a sleeper as Forrest, but she still had problems waking up in the morning.

There was a groan, and she saw the frail lump under the comforter move and squirm. "I-I'm awake honey. G-go get yourself dressed." The woman answered tiredly.

Anira smiled slightly then turned to do as her mother had said, then paused and spun back around. "Mom, I slept till three last night." She said proudly.

"Th-that's great sweetheart, did you scream?" Her mom half whispered with encouragement.

"Yeah, I screamed… it's hard not to… y'know?" Anira answered, a little sadly.

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**End of chapter one!! I think I forgot to mention… this entire story takes place in ****our**** world. I know it's a little short, but that's the beginning!! Oh, and don't worry Sasori fans. Our adorable brown-eyed red-haired puppeteer is coming up soon so plz be patient! I'll update soon! (please respond! This is my first try, so encouragement might help!) mmm…bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer-** I don't own Naruto yada yada yada…

-Sorry it took a long time, my little bro was writing his own story (Last Child), and it delayed mine, but now were back on track. I've gotten only good reviews so far and I'm hoping to receive more! So read on!^-^ (oh yez, My bro is the voice Forrest so enjoy)

**CHAPTER 2**

"Do we have to listen to the _gayest_ music on the face of the _planet?" _Forrest whined From the back seat of Anira's green VW-Bug.

"Just because it's Avril Lavine does not make this music gay!" Anira growled towards the rearview mirror. Because of their mom's new job, Anira had been put in charge of driving her little brother to school, and things never got along well.

Forrest smirked, "Your right. Avril Lavine isn't gay… **She's Homosexual**!"

This sentence almost caused Anira to swerve her car into a ditch.

-----------elsewhere------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The red head sighed. His dull brown eyes scanning the dreary buildings that made up the Grove-Tree High School. This was going to be interesting.

---------back to Anira---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"GET OUT! GET OUT NOW!" Anira screamed. Her car door swung open and her little brother went tumbling out of it.

"But it's four blocks to the school!" Forrest yelled in desperation, barely dodging the backpack that came shooting out of the car after him.

"Then I guess you'll just have to learn how to **walk**!" Anira emphasized as she slammed the car door.

The last few words she heard from her brother as she drove away sounded something like this:

"I'M TELLING MOM!!"

Anira groaned. She was sick of her little brother's rude comments and annoying opinions. After school, she'd have to convince her mom to let Forrest ride the bus.

----5 minutes later------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anira's green Bug pulled into the High School parking-lot just as the tardy bell rang. She sighed. This was going to be a very bad day.

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School went normally for the most part. Because she barely slept, she had all the time in the world to get homework and projects done, and she had straight A's in all her classes.

It wasn't until she left third hour that she saw him. Yes, she'd heard rumors about a new kid, who seemed to be famous for having hair that was literally red, and claimed he hadn't dyed it; he was born that way. But she'd never thought much about him.

But this was her first look at him. And she was in shock.

His eyes were what caught her attention first, they were a dull tan, that neither reflected nor

echoed his surroundings. She barely noticed that he stopped as well, and even the crowd of bustling students could not break their gaze. She tried to pull herself from his eyes, but they held her, even as he began to study her in return. Anira blushed. She was so average, and he was so…so different. Then he smirked. It was so simple and so slight, but it caught her attention, and she blinked.

He was gone.

The rest of the day seemed to go by in a daze. Anira hardly ate at lunch, and the only thing she remembered about it was that the new kid sat by himself about two or three tables away from hers , and she couldn't stop glancing at him.

It was during these brief glimpses of him that she truly began to get an idea of who he was.

He wore a black hoodie, which was strange because summer hadn't quite decided to let fall take over, and the average temperature was still around 85 degrees.

He picked at his food, which either meant he didn't like school pizza or he usually didn't eat lunch.

He did have red hair, and it did look all-natural.

He was startlingly handsome, which put him way out of her range.

She sighed. That was so unfair. Out of her entire family, she got stuck with the ugly straight-hair gene, along with the stupid crooked grin problem, which made her embarrassed to smile during school pictures.

The new kid would never like a girl who rated as 1 nerd in the whole school.

"Hey, Anira? You okay? You've been kinda silent…" Her friend Kristine asked suddenly. Anira had known her since first grade, so she had been one of the few kids who was there the day that Anira's mom became a widow.

Anira pulled herself away from her contemplating "Yeah Kristy, I'm fine. Hey, do you know anything about the new boy?"

Kristy frowned, obviously trying to remember something that might be important. "he's in one of my classes!" she popped brightly, "and his name's something weird, like, Chinese or something… and he rolls his R's when he speaks, which I think is totally cute…an-"

"What's his name?" Anira interrupted tiredly. Kristy had a habit of rambling on when it came to a subject she was interested in.

"Ummm… Sas.. .Sosi… Uhh…Sa.. Sasori! Yeah, his names Sasori!" Kristy bubbled.

Anira smirked, sometimes it could be so obvious that Kristine was blonde.

"Sasori huh?" Another one of her friends, Amber, spoke up. If I'm right, that's Japanese for Scorpion. The black haired know-it-all unconsciously shoved her glasses up her nose and went back to reading

Anira raised an eyebrow. "So he's Japanese…?" She asked herself. She glanced at the new kid again. "Sasori" she murmured.

She barely heard Kristy start up on another conversation, probably another rumor about the boy that had suddenly shoved his way into her life.

Anira smiled, maybe today wasn't that bad after all.

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**-Okay! That's the end of chapter two! Plz comment! You guyz are the lifeblood of this story and I need some motivation! (P.s.- My bro is making me advertise his story because he's advertising mine… so here goes: Also check out ****Last Child****, by neon scorpion! You can find it in the book x overs in the miscellaneous section! Though it isn't a crossover, it is fiction, and [in my own words] it makes you wish he wrote more! Check it out today!)**

**Whew, glad that's over…**

**So! Writing more soon! Mmm…. Bye! ^^**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer-** I don't keep Naruto locked in my closet. Kishimoto does.

Hello peoplz! OMG!!! I am sooo sorry! I lost my internet connection, so you guys probably all think I abandoned you or something. =_= But That's okay, because fans are dedicated, and you wouldn't give up that quickly… right? .;; *coughs awkwardly*

Oh, one more thing!!! This chapter's from Sasori's point of view!(plz tell me if he's more OC and not actually Sasori, I would hate that) so read on and enjoy! ^^

**CHAPTER 3**

Sasori picked at the pizza on his plate boredly.

Even in the silence of his thoughts, he did feel a sort of suppressed thrill. He hadn't expected the hoodie to cover his body correctly, and with the crease where his neck connected to his chest, he'd almost chosen to wear a turtle neck.

But the hoodie had worked, and he'd been able to pretend human quite well, from how the teachers and students reacted.

Everything had gone normally until he'd met the girl.

She hadn't been much, in his opinion. No well toned muscles, nothing that would have been of use to him. He already knew quite well that the people of this strange dimension ether didn't, or couldn't control chakra. So why he'd stopped had puzzled him.

But even as he thought back on the encounter, he sensed he knew. It wasn't a thought exactly, but more of a strangeness in the one part of him that was still human, a part of him he had been sure wouldn't bother him that way.

Tired of trying to understand his heart, he raised his head just high enough to see the girl talking with her friends two or three tables away.

He strained his ears slightly, but what he picked up wasn't a surprise. The girls were talking about him, he clearly heard the blonde blubber his name. He frowned a little. It seemed that if you were a newcomer, you were as popular as a movie star in this 'High School', and he didn't much enjoy that popularity.

He looked down at his pizza again, pretending to have some interest in the strange triangular lump, when he sensed her eyes on him again.

This wasn't the first time she'd glanced at him, and out of annoyance, he almost wanted to meet her gaze this time, just to see the girls reaction, but he new better and simply waited.

When she'd turned away, he stood with the untouched pizza and dumped it in the trash, he hoped he could sneak out of her constant surveillance while she was still distracted, but he felt her eyes on him just as he left the cafeteria.

He ignored this and kept walking. He would not allow her to meet his gaze again, not after the way she'd stared at him before.

Ever since he'd awoken and found himself in this world, things had just gone from bad to plain annoying.

For one, it seemed that his short stature and seemingly young face caused the men and women here to believe he was a teenager, and it had taken some questioning from some highly authoritative men known as 'Police' to convince him that he'd need a disguise and false identity to keep himself out of an orphanage.

So, with some ingenious planning, he was now here, in a high school full of kids that could be his grandchildren, and they all seemed to believe he wasn't a year past seventeen.

He shouldered his backpack to a more comfortable position and dashed up the stairs in one of the many buildings that made up Grove-Tree.

He wanted to be on time to all his classes so that he stayed under the radar. The last thing he needed was someone getting suspicious and discovering his true identity.

He sighed, not that it bothered him, but he didn't know a thing about U.S. History, and he was quite sure he'd have to sign up for tutoring to get a good grade in the class.

The class went by slowly, mostly because The teacher seemed to be speaking gibberish half the hour, and by the time Sasori understood the gist of what a president was, class was over, as signaled by the bell.

After a glance down at notes that barely made sense, He decided it was a good idea to ask the teacher about the tutoring he needed.

He was walking over to the teacher when an all too familiar face peered in to the recently emptied classroom, and before he could catch himself, he was staring face to face with the strange girl again.

She gasped and stared at him with a look of startled amazement mixed with compassionate embarrassment. Which made him blink in surprise.

No one had ever given him such a look before, and it made him feel a strange tickle somewhere deep inside his mind.

Time passed unnoticed by both, as eyes searched for some unsaid need they both had for the other.

The only distraction that broke his gaze from hers was a sudden slight pressure on his shoulder and the stern voice of the history teacher saying "You need to get to class Sasoray, Your going to be late."

Pulling his eyes away from the star-struck girl, Sasori had enough sense to mutter "It's Sasor-ee." , before dashing out of the room as quickly as possible.

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**-That's the third chapter! Okay, So I've came up with a plan. I'm gonna update on weekends because of school purposes and stupid yada yada. My bro won't be in here because Forrest isn't showing up for a while (sry) but it's not affecting the story or anything. =_= -duh- I've noticed that I'm on some peoples fav. Lists now! Yaayyy!!!!! *pats self on back* ^-^ you guys are the greatest. Keep reading! There will be more! I don't give up that easily. Mmm…bye! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer- **Naruto is Kishimoto's errand boy, I just distract him from doing what Kishimoto wants.

-Look! A chapter submitted right after another chapter! Okay, enough of that… Sooo… Ummm… read on! (this is from Anira's point of view. I've decided I'll just put the first letter of Anira's or Sasori's name in a big capital letter so you guys have a clue on who is centered on in the chapters.) So, really quick, if there's an '**A' **Who is this chapter focused on? Anira! What about an '**S'**? Sasori! Yup, you guys got it now right? Let us continue…

**CHAPTER**** 4**

The fifth hour ending bell rang loud and clear over the heads of the students in Anira's Algebra 2 class.

Bored and anxious to get back home, all children but one flowed out of the class in an instant.

With a soft sigh, Anira's Algebra teacher, Mrs. Vassiliou, stood from her desk and trotted over to the one student who hadn't left her seat yet.

A soft tap on her desk broke Anira's dreamy train of thought and she looked up into her teachers eyes blankly. With sudden realization, she gasped, mumbled sorry to her teacher, and leapt out of her seat, nearly knocking over the desk as she did so.

Blushing bright red, she shouldered her backpack and headed towards the door, ignoring the soft chuckle she heard behind her.

Anira rushed down the hall fuming at herself. This was not supposed to be happening! Why, out of every hot boy in school, did she have to daydream about the one she knew she'd never hook up with? Only the most popular girls got the hot new guys!

still grumbling to herself when she got to U.S. History, her sixth hour, she found herself standing outside the door without entering. With a pause and a deep breath, she turned to enter into the empty classroom.

Anira's stopped in her tracks. There, standing almost directly in front of her, was Sasori.

He stopped as well, and she saw a flash of the strangest look on his face; a look of bemused curiosity and bewilderment.

Suddenly self conscious, she found herself blushing and she closed her partially open mouth.

_It was him! And he was staring at her! And he was even hotter up close than he was in the cafeteria! A chain of swear words flowed through her head at once. Say something God damn it! _repeated itself inside her mind angrily, but all she could do was stare.

Suddenly she saw their teacher come up behind Sasori and place his hand on the boy's shoulder. The man had an annoyed look on his face that obviously had to do with the fact that two of his students were gaping at each other.

What truly broke her gaze from Sasori was the way he jumped when the man touched him. The boy's entire body seemed to jolt to the left, and his head seemed to turn ceremoniously with it, until he was eyeing the teacher. This wouldn't have been strange if it hadn't been a millisecond fast.

Anira blinked and watched the two exchange word, shocked by the sound of Sasori's dull lulling voice.

Then he was shoving his way past her and was gone.

"Anira?" Her teacher asked with false concern. "You okay?" She turned her head to look at him blankly, nodded and mumbled "yeah" then wandered over to her desk, just as other children began to arrive to the class.

That class period went by in an incomprehensible blur, and Anira couldn't seem to focus. Every time she tried to pay attention, she found that it was a struggle, and would end up giving in and dazing off again.

She sighed. This was so weird! She'd never had a crush before, (if that wasn't strange enough) and if this was what one was like, she wanted her old brain back.

And the way he'd moved, it was so quick, it was almost unnatural… then there was his voice…

Hoping staring out the classroom window might clear her mind, she turned to see a sight that made her moan and drop her head on her desk. It was raining; not just a drizzle, but pouring rain.

Irony there.

_This,_ she decided,_ is officially the worst day in the entire world._ If there was one thing you learn when you're a new driver, it was NEVER to drive on a highway in the pouring rain or in freezing snow until you're around twenty, which was going to make picking her little brother up from school hell on earth.

A slight pattering sound turned Sasori's attention away from his 3D art and design teacher. Glancing toward the large classroom's far window, he could see rain slapping itself against the glass. With an inward groan he checked his backpack to see if he'd remembered an umbrella, with no success.

Wood doesn't do well when wet.

And Sasori wasn't sure his hoodie was going to do a fair job of shielding his body when he walked home after school that day.

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**- Ooo…. I'm so evil. Just like me to torture my characters with rain. That's sad. 8( **

**What's Sasori gonna do??? *screams and runs around in circles* (No like, I really have NO idea what I'm gonna do… but that's what brainstorming is for! ^-^) Oh, and Vassiliou is pronounced Vah-si-loo. So! That's the 4****th**** chapter! Love U guys always! Mmm…bye!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer-** Dude! Who really has time for these! Naruto isn't even mentioned in this chapter! REALLY PEOPLE! :(

- Okie! So, like, I had writers block last chapter, but now I've got a great idea for this one so bear with me! Speedwriting Activated! *doop dee-dee dooo!* ^-^

**(S)**

**CHAPTER 5**

Sasori sighed and grabbed his backpack. The end of school bell was ringing with a jarring resonance throughout the building, which meant torture for anyone, including him, who had to walk home.

Standing slowly, he shouldered his bag and trotted out of the room and down the hall; Listening intently for conversations that included 'car' and 'extra space in back'.

He would take his chances if he had to, he didn't want to be caught in the rain.

Noticing a group of giggling girls staring at him, he was brought back to the encounter he'd had with the girl in U.S History, and how he had been caught in her gaze again.

It made no sense! He couldn't understand why she was so important to him! Sasori's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he went through any logical reason for his strange behavior, but came up with nothing.

Puzzled but not thoroughly confused, he continued on his mission to find a ride home.

Noticing a slightly plump boy with a Gen-con tee dangling a pair of keys in front of a black haired kid with eyeliner, he changed course and headed in their direction.

As he got closer, the two boys conversation became slightly more in earshot, and he got a gist of what the two were saying.

Gen-con tee: " See these? These are called CAR KEYS. I have them for a reason. Now I've got two extra seats in back, do you want a ride or not?!"

Eyeliner: "Sorry dude, I missed that… Of course I'll take a ride. My bus driver's a piece of shit."

Gen-con tee: " I'm warning you, I don't drive the highway in this weather, so it's gonna take a while if were not taking the turnpike."

Eyeliner: "Not like I care, longer I'm away from home, the better. Hey, you got that new Linkin Park CD? We could listen to that…"

Sasori decided this was probably the best time to interrupt; they seemed to be turning to walk away.

Straitening his posture, and shoving his hands in his hoodie in an attempt to seem casual, he addressed the two teenagers in a slightly board voice. "Excuse me, you said you have two seats empty?" this was directed at the chubby one.

The boy turned to respond this with a slightly raised eyebrow. "Yeah, who are you?"

"I am Sasori, I am new here. I live very close and I usually walk, but I have forgotten my umbrella." The other boy turned as well, and Sasori was annoyed to see that he was taller than him.

"Well, I don't see why not, but I'm just gonna say, we both have a habit of geeking out randomly…" the Driver said with a smirk.

Sasori's eyebrows furrowed, "Gee-king out? Is that dangerous?" He wasn't able to feel embarrassment, so when both the boys began laughing at this reply, he simply watched them blankly.

"Your cool man!" The taller said. "My names David, this is Eric," He said motioning towards the plump boy still grinning next to him. "It's Sasoray…Right?"

Sasori sighed. "It is Sasor-ee he muttered. He hadn't expected this to work out so well. He'd need to study this English-speaking culture more thoroughly.

Now following both of the boys to one of the many entrances of the building, He found himself observing how the two interacted.

_They're friends. _He realized blankly. With a jolt, an epiphany came to him. A friendship with these two would openly help him with his communication skills, and he'd have a better chance of surviving in this world if he had people he could call allies.

Sasori had never needed friends before, but now, it was beginning to sound like a good idea.

The sound of Eric's voice brought him out of his train of thought. " So, Umm… are you from China or something? You have a an accent."

Sasori blinked, thought the question over, then answered, " No, I am from Japan,… I … immigrated here with my parents a few weeks ago."

The taller one, David, Turned his head to look behind him at Sasori. " So your parents couldn't come pick you up?"

Sasori tensed, searching for a plausible lie. "They… work during the day… they will only pick me up if I am sick."

"Oh…" was David's only reply to this, and Eric simply nodded in agreement. Noticing they were close to the door, Sasori threw his hood over his head and watched as the other boys moved their backpacks until they were positioned to block some of the rain.

Dashing out into the student parking lot, they circled around an old white Dodge Neo with a barrage of bumper stickers on the back.

Moving as quickly as possible, they all dropped their backpacks in the trunk and crammed into the car, slamming doors behind them as they went.

With an exasperated groan, Eric Reached to start the engine grumbling " Now we wait for Robby."

"Why the Fuck is he always late?" David hissed angrily.

"Who is Robby?" Sasori asked with annoyance. He wanted to be out of the car and home as soon as possible. Cars were one of many objects that Sasori detested about this world, mostly because of how alien they were.

"ROBBY…. Is another _friend_ of ours who lives right down the street from me." Eric growled. "And if he doesn't get here in three minutes, were leaving without him."

Sasori raised an eyebrow. The way Eric spoke of Robby totally cancelled what he actually said. Either this was how friendship was handled, or Eric wasn't really Robby's friend… either way, it made no sense to the puppeteer.

"_There_ he is!" David muttered.

Sasori peered out the window. There, running towards the car, was a young man even taller than David, with short cropped brown hair and a very professional blue outfit on. He was Holding a dark blue-black jacket above his head and he was obviously being buffered by the pouring rain.

"He's in the R.O.T.C." Eric said towards the back. Sasori continued to watch the teen make his way to the vehicle, but asked, "What is that?"

David shrugged. "I dunno. Some kind of military training class. You should have seen him before, his hair was like a big brown mop on his head. It was hilari-" He was interrupted by The passenger car door opening and the huge teen sliding into the car.

"About time!" Eric grumbled snidely.

"Sorry." Robby muttered, " The teacher made me stay late… hey! Can we go over to your house after we drop off David? I wanted to design that new level for our D&D campaign."

"Are you blind?" Eric groaned. "We have someone else riding with us today, and NO I have to work, so after I drop all of you guys off, I'm going straight home for a nap. Then I'm heading to my job, so again, the answer is no."

Robby rolled his eyes then glanced into the back seat. Spotting Sasori, he gave a distracted smile and a "Hey." then turned to face the windshield again.

Eric brought his car to one of the parking lot entrances and waited for someone already stuck in the long line of cars to let them in.

While they waited, Sasori watched Eric plug a small new-looking ipod into his radio and very soon the speakers were blaring what Sasori assumed must be Linkin Park.

A green VW-Bug appeared out of the rain and stopped before the entrance, allowing Eric enough room to get in line.

"Hey! That's Anira!" Eric said happily. "She's great; always lets me out. She helped me jump my car once too." Sasori watched him give the Mint-green car a thank you wave then pull in front of it.

Twisting to look out the rear window, he caught sight of the girl driving the car and blinked. It was Her! The girl who made him _feel_ inside!.

Their eyes met and he saw her gasp from the other car. Not sure what to do with himself, Sasori waved at her, then turned and faced forward again.

If it was possible for Sasori to feel more numb than he already felt, it was happening right now.

Why had he waved at her? There had to be a plausible reason for the gesture… Was it the fact that he now new her name? Or was his gut instinct… one that had never failed before, trying to tell him that she would be useful in some way?

She couldn't even control chakra! At best she'd just be pretty to look at… And for a girl, she _was_ slightly attractive…

His train of thought was interrupted by Eric's voice. "Hey, uh, where do you live Sasori?"

Sasori looked up blankly and realized they were on the road and no longer in line. "I live in the apartment complex five blocks from the school. I'm apartment 213."

"Oh, I know where that is. Damn, you do live close." Eric said with a grin.

Sasori just nodded and went back to staring out the window, barely aware that a conversation was starting between Robby and David.

Anira Nearly slammed her brakes when she saw who was riding in the back seat of Eric's car.

This was almost too weird to be true! First in the hallway, then in the classroom, and now he was riding with a group of D&D loving nerds she considered friends!

And he waved at her! It was as if heaven had said "Here Anira. Have this angel all for yourself. We'll torture you with him for a while, then were going to take it all away at the last second. Enjoy."

She watched the car turn down a street in the opposite direction of where she was headed and sighed. Today sucked.

Period.

Eric's car stopped in the parking lot near Sasori's house. Sasori did not invite them in, and no one asked. He simply said thank you, grabbed his backpack and walked away.

The boys in the car shouted random friendly departure comments, then the car door was closed and the car was driving off into the rain again.

Sasori made a dash to his house, allowing himself to go faster than normal since no one was watching.

He fumbled with the keys, then vanished inside.

Clicking on the living room light, a clutter of random objects displayed itself throughout the small one bedroom house. Among these were School books; mostly U.S History, paper; blank or full to the brim with sketches and drawings, and Puppets.

These wooden creations lined the walls, and pieces of them were scattered across the floor.

Throwing the backpack onto a small worn couch he had found near the dumpster, Sasori yanked his hoodie off, revealing the truth of what he was underneath, and grabbed a stack of blank papers.

With little search he found a mechanical pencil, slid his reading glasses on, and sat himself down at the wobbly dining room table to work on his _newest_ design.

___________

-** Whew! Glad I got that out of my head! This is the true beginning of the story… if you know what I mean. So plz review!!! OMG! This is Sasori communicating with normal people, so I need someone to tell me if it was good or bad. o I'm so exited to write the next chapter! Tell me your opinion on this stuff. I'm dying. XP Anyhow, love you guys. Talk to me. Really, encouragement helps! Mmm…bye! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**- BLAHBLAHBLAHnarutoisnotmineBLAHBLAHBLAH

-WOW. Talk about annoying! My computer keeps losing our internet signal. =.=; how am I supposed to keep you guys interested if my updates are so far apart? TT-TT you guys are just going to have to be patient with me! I can't control my schedule so forget about updates on weekends, my updates are just gonna be random until I can decipher what's wrong with my internet. (Sry) so be patient!!! If I don't update for a while that just means my internet has cut out ^-^;; but that doesn't mean I'm not writing! OH! BTW! Forrest iz back! ^o^

**(A)**

**CHAPTER 6**

Anira drove through the pouring rain, windshield wipers beating profusely to keep up with the intense torrent of water.

She sighed and watched the lightning as she wound through the service roads that followed the highway. "The sky looks like shit, I feel like shit, my brother's gonna treat me like shit, this entire day is just one huge stinking pile of shit." she thought aloud.

"And Sasori!" she let out a low grumble that matched the deep rolling thunder overhead, "What the hell has that brat done to me?! I'm probably going to dream about him tonight!"

Anira caught herself at that statement, and chuckled. _I'd rather dream about him than deal with those horrible nightmares. _The thought made her smirk.

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Anira arrived at Forrest's school and grinned when she saw her little brother standing in the shade of an awning, dripping all over.

Silently he climbed into the back seat and slammed the door behind him. Anira peered at him through the rearview mirror as she pulled away from the pick-up loop.

"You look like a wet puppy." she snickered, hoping he would forget this morning's incident in return for a little humor.

Forrest glared at her, "well at least I'm not a bitch." He grumbled, loud enough for Anira to hear.

"Ha-ha. Good pun, I'm laughing hysterically." Anira growled back, the smile erased from her now sunken face.

Forrest didn't answer, but turned to glower out the window instead. Anira sighed, _Great, now mom's gonna treat me like shit too._ She thought sadly as she drove the two of them home.

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"SHE DID WHAT?!" Anira's mother screeched as the story of that morning unfurled from Forrest's mouth.

"Yeah, she just drove off! I was late for school! Mom, I got a detention for being tardy with no excuse because of her! It's like she's on her period or something." Forrest added, glancing at his cowering older sister, standing across the room.

"Anira! I don't have time for this sort of nonsense." Her mother moaned to her oldest child. "What if he was kidnapped? We've already lost your Father; do you want the weight of your brother's death as well?"

Anira mumbled a no and stared at the floor.

"Anira, look at me when I'm talking to you, and speak up so your brother can hear." Her mother growled.

"No Mom, I don't want my brother to die, I understand that I overreacted." Anira said, choosing to stare at Forrest as she spoke.

"I'm not Mom, Anira." Forrest said loudly, obviously trying to find another reason for his mother to continue yelling.

Instead of getting angrier, Anira's mother seemed to do just the opposite. Her shoulders hunched, the angry spark in her eyes diminished, and her age lines seemed to be twice as visible.

"Why can't you two just get along?" She mumbled to her two children. "Anira, what would your father say?" she gave her daughter a halfhearted attempt at looking serious, but ended up looking more like she was trying not to cry.

"Mom, I'm sorry, I'll try not to overreact to Forrest's comments Okay?" Anira mumbled in the biggest suck-up voice she could muster.

Forrest eyed her warily, then murmured an "I forgive you…" and left their living room.

The Mother and daughter could soon hear the stunted rumble of feet running up the stairs.

Anira's mom turned back to her daughter with a quizzical look on her face, "I thought you were apologizing to me!" she laughed with half-hearted humor.

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So, the terms of Anira's punishment were this:

She was grounded from electronics, reading, and sleepovers for two weeks.

If her mother caught them arguing, for every argument, another day was added to her grounding.

If Forrest started the argument, then he would also become grounded, and under the same terms as Anira's.

Anira grumbled to herself angrily as she lay on her bed, finishing the last of her Algebra II homework.

_What am I supposed to do now? _She asked herself, _Doodle?_

She thought it over for a few seconds, and then had an idea. "I still need to call Mr. Peterson about assisting him with his U.S History tutoring!" She exclaimed aloud.

She jumped out of bed and dashed down the stairs, then ran into the kitchen where her mother was making stroganoff for dinner.

"Hey Mom? Can I use the phone to call my U.S History teacher? I promised I'd call him when I got home from school." She said through gasps to catch her breath.

Without turning to look at her daughter, her Mother nodded distractedly and continued stirring the sauce for the egg noodles.

Anira did a sort of happy dance behind her mother's back then rushed off to grab the wireless phone.

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"Hello? Mr. Peterson?.....Yes, I was just calling to ask about the tutoring….. You needed a second person? To tutor the others?......Um okay, When is the tutoring exactly……….Cool, 4:00 pm,….. I'll be there! Thanks Mr. Peterson…. Okay, you too, mmm, Bye."

Anira grinned to herself and hung up the phone. _So, tutoring others after school…I'd just drop off Forrest and go!_ Anira thought happily, _now to just tell Mom! I won't even know I'm grounded._ This thought made her feel a whole lot better.

_I wonder if I'll recognize anyone at the tutoring._ She thought absently as she trotted into the kitchen.

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-**YAY!!! A sixth chapter! ;D Poor Anira got grounded! TT-TT so sad! Hope you guys liked it! I'll update as soon as possible! Mmm…bye! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer**- Crashing through the snow, in a pair of broken skies…..

- Yello pplz! Wat's up?! Oh …you guys are angry 'cause I haven't updated? Well that's okay! (You see, when you move to a new house, other things tend 2 be put on hold.) but my ducks are in a row… sorta, and my muse has sparked the match to that stupid candle in my brain. (I also doused my brain in coffee; hopefully it will choose to function when submerged in caffeine.) So! Are u ready 4 a super large helping of Sasori? ^w^ I am! *dances then starts writing*

**(S)/(A)**

**CHAPTER 7**

"So you see, I am not very understanding of U.S. History." Sasori mumbled. To further add to the 'I'm an embarrassed teenager' effect, he ran his pale fingers through his blood-red hair and stared uncomfortably at his teacher's brown shoes.

"Well Sasori, I have after school tutoring, if you think that would help…" Mr. Peterson eyed Sasori quizzically "…but I would suspect a Japanese immigrant to have some knowledge of our government at least, since our countries are both Democracies."

Sasori blinked, but didn't let his calm disposition falter. The teacher had caught a white lie, but only skimmed the surface of a very deep, much darker one. He could still pull this off, it was part of being a Shinobi.

"My class was just beginning to focus on our government similarities when my parents chose to move here." Sasori said calmly.

With his Suspicion gone, Sasori's teacher nodded understandingly and pulled off a fake smile, then glanced almost desperately at the clock. "Well then, I just got the last volunteer for my after school tutoring to agree last night, So," There was a pause as he reached across his desk for a paper, then offered it to Sasori, " This has the time, classroom, and dates. All you've got to do is show up, the tutoring's free, you got it?"

Sasori took the paper, scanned it politely, then folded it and shoved it in his jean's pocket. "Thank you Mr. Peterson" He murmured. He nearly bowed, but caught himself and gave a slight nod instead.

Mr. Peterson glanced at the clock again and sighed. "I'm glad you came to talk to me before school, but class will be starting soon." Sasori nodded and glanced at the gathering students filing into their classroom seats, "I am leaving, don't worry, my first hour teacher will understand."

______________

Sasori's Geometry teacher didn't understand, and instead she gave him an after-school detention. Sasori glanced at the tutoring paper and chose to take the detention the next Monday. The only day during the week the tutoring didn't take place.

_I guess all my plans will stay focused on weekends._ He groaned inwardly and sat down. He could never remember being this impatient before. Since when had a project meant this much to him?

Sasori pulled out a spiral and pretended to take notes as the teacher began lecturing on how to determine a cosine from a sine and a tangent.

That was something else he was beginning to notice. He had to fake a lot of things lately. At least with Deidara, (that annoying, complaining, stupid baka) he didn't have to hide anything. Dei never cared about the world around him unless it involved himself anyway.

Sasori sighed and allowed his thoughts to shift from the past to the present. So what was he to do about the obese boy Eric? He had a strange skin color, and wore glasses, and had a harsh view of others behind their backs. _What does he think of a seemingly shy Japanese immigrant? Is there truly a chance of friendship between us? Is he trustable? _

"Sasori, what is the answer?"

"……"

"……"

"Sasori?"

"Huh?"

"Well?"

"Well what?"

__________________

Anira was sitting at the usual lunch table the next day, and was peeved by the fact that three tables away, Sasori had chosen to sit with the group of nerds that had driven him home the day before.

Eric, a half black Boy that had walked so deeply into nerd-dom there was no saving him, was in the middle of making Chemistry jokes with a Jewish boy named Denalel, whom she shared her second hour with.

Sasori was asking questions about a well-known card game 'Magic the gathering', and another friend of hers, Robby, was answering them.

Kristy watched them with her and giggled.

"Bet you never thought he'd hang out with them huh?" She chuckled.

"They always magnet newcomers Blondie." Amber said from behind, yet, another book. Anira could almost picture her rolling her eyes from where they were hidden in the books vast amount of pages.

Kristy stuck her tongue out at the to-be librarian and returned to spying on the boys with Anira.

Suddenly Sasori turned and deliberately stared at Anira. He was saying something about her…

…she could just make out the conversation.

"So, Uh, Eric, how well do you know Anira?"

"She's staring at you dude."

"I know."

Robby piped in;

"Do you like her?"

Sasori turned away from her and she couldn't hear his reply, but all the rest of the boys at the table began laughing, and she watched Sasori run his fingers through his hair awkwardly.

Kristy gasped suddenly and seemed to do a sort of happy dance, and let out a high-pitched squeal.

Amber set her book down, (a miracle by Anira's standards) and stared at Kristina with a look that said 'wtf' written all over it.

Anira sighed and turned her attention fully away from the group of boys, and making sure to sound slightly annoyed murmured "What is it Kristy?"

Amber leaned closer from across the circular table, and mimicking Anira's hushed tone growled "this better be good Kristina, cause now half of them are looking at us."

Anira didn't have to turn around to know that was true, she could feel four sets of eyes digging into the back of her head.

Kristy rolled her eyes exaggeratingly and leaned in closer to Anira.

"Do you know what it means when guys laugh after a question like that?" She whispered mysteriously.

Anira and Amber both shook their heads no, and then gave looks that said _**Get to the point please.**_

Obviously enjoying the attention, Kristy gave a huge grin and leaned even closer.

"It means Sasori said no, but in such a way that the boys think it's a yes, which means it IS a yes! So Sasori likes you!" after spilling this information, Kristy sat up quickly, pride at her knowledge of gossip written all over her face.

Though Anira and Amber both giggled and rolled their eyes, Anira couldn't help but hope it was true.

Because then, for the first time in her life, something would be going right for her.

_Or so she thought._

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**OOOhhh! Dramatic ending! You guyz are soooo going to beg 4 moar. I know u 2 well. BUT THAT IZ AWESOME! (Cause I live off of comments, L, Beyond Birthday, Coffee, and the Akatsuki.) And without one of those many things, I cannot survive. So feed me comments plz! OM NOM NOM! ^,,,,^ luv U! Mmmm…bye!**


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